Overall Design
The target audience is HipHop. The graphics are quite male orientated which is correct, as HipHop is a masculine genre of music and woman are usually used as ‘eye candy’ within the videos.
It appeals to the target audience as it is photographed in a very grand building with an unusual centre point of a stuffed animal with an American jacket on, this indicated College/University life, which makes it seem aimed at that age range. It reflects on the artist as being quite interesting and fun. Kanye West is known for being a bit of an attention seeker. It uses very dark colours and Kanye is know for wearing sun glasses for most of the time he is seen or wearing an all black suit.
I believe the cover has reflected the ethos of the artist, as Kanye is wealthy and stereotypically very American.
I would have said that the cover is more of an artistic comment on the artist rather then a simple promotional cover. However three of his Album covers contain the same styled bear on the cover. I feel that the majority of people and especially fans know when they see it the cover that it is Kanye West. I believe Photoshop will have definitely been used but perhaps not the airbrush technique as it is a polished photo, but doesn’t involve a human face which would need to be tweaked.
Text
The only wording on the cover is ‘KANYE WEST Late Registration’ on the top right corner, and in the bottom left corner the ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker warning that there is swearing involved within the CD.
The wording kanYeWest is how Kanye’s CD covers are seen, as that is the established way he is seen by his target audience. The text is that which you would expect in a book or newspaper, which shows it as being reliable and well known, just like Kanye. The text could also be set up in this way as the photograph is taken so it looks like it is from a university or collage in which books are read.
Band branding
The artist has been represented through the style of the cover as Kanye has a cartoon version of his, which is the bear, which is shown on the front cover. This therefore shows that he is aiming towards his target audience, as they will understand the cover better. It is a very masculine photograph. However, it is slightly softer as the bear is used in the image. It does give it a slightly haunting effect. In ‘Graduation’ and ‘The College Dropout’ a bear is used, along with the fact they all have the same bear on the front cover. The writing for KanYeWest is in gold lettering which makes it seem expensive which I believe the artists behind the CD cover were aiming for as Kanye has a reputation for being very wealthy and well established.
All of the CD’s, which contain the bear on the front cover, are named after certain aspects of college so seem like they flow together and tell a story of his earlier life.
Graphics & Photography
The main graphic is the bear in the centre of the image. I believe two separate pictures were taken and then the bear was edited and cut to fit the image.
I believe the contrast in the image has been altered so that it seems dark and mysterious. The sides of the image are almost completely blacked out which makes the bear look vulnerable, when really Kanye is a very strong-minded person who also speaks his mind.
The colour pallet is all different browns. The lightest brown id the doorframe as it has to show the bear in front of it. Everything in the image is very symmetrical which makes it seem a little less spooky and more staged.
The image and name of the album do flatter one another as they are both relating to college. The fact that it says ‘Late’ and the bare is walking into an empty room makes it seem that perhaps Kanye is talking about past experience or college life.
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